1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a discharge volume control method, a discharge pressure control method, an injecting apparatus, a microbody forming method, a discharge volume control device, and a discharge volume control program.
2. Description of the Related Art
A microinjection, which is a method of injecting a specific substance (DNA, a drug, or the like) into a cell under a microscope, has been known in the fields of regenerative medicine, new drug designing, and the like. Microinjection is a method of pressurizing a capillary filled with a solution containing a predetermined substance in advance, thereby discharging the solution into a cell penetrated by the capillary to inject the substance into the cell. This method allows, for example, to examine effects of the injected substance on the cell. A quantitative discharge of a solution into a cell is critically important for microinjection. Therefore, liquid discharge volume control methods for regulating a discharge volume conveniently and accurately with high repeatability have been developed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H3-119989 (Paragraphs 0010 to 0014, FIG. 1, and FIG. 2) discloses a microinjection apparatus in which a male screw is rotated to move a plunger, thereby pressurizing a capillary to discharge liquid. Specifically, when an operator presses a button provided on a control box included in the microinjection apparatus, an electric signal is generated, and the generated electric signal causes a piezoelectric element to produce a drive force to rotate the female screw so that the plunger is moved to discharge liquid filled in the capillary. Accordingly, the operator of the microinjection apparatus achieves the discharge of the liquid out of the capillary penetrated into a cell conveniently at the simple push of the button.
While the conventional technology described above achieves discharge of liquid conveniently by moving a plunger with the push of a button, a discharge volume is regulated by an operator of the microinjection apparatus who observes a cell penetrated by the capillary under a microscope and estimates the discharge volume based on a degree of expansion of the cell to determine whether a predetermined liquid volume has been discharged. Therefore, the conventional technology still has a problem of not attaining a quantitative discharge of the liquid.